News: July to August 2009
New resources section to Lewis Psychology CIC website
The counselling team at Lewis Psychology CIC have been busy adding a new resources section to the website. The resources section provides detailed information on issues such as domestic violence, anxiety, depression and much more. It is currently a work in progress and new resources are being added most days.
Depression costs economy £8.6bn a year
Depression is costing the economy £8.6bn a year, up from £5.3bn in 1999, according to analysis carried out by the independent research of the House of Commons Library.
The rising number of people prevented from working due to poor mental health is thought to be behind the increase. The figure does not include the heavy burden placed on the NHS by depression. The research predicts that the cost of GP consultants to treat depression amounted to more than £33m in 2007-2008, while treating depression in hospitals cost another £218m.
Jo Swindson, the Liberal Democrat MP who commissioned the figures, said, "More Government focus on mental health and wellbeing makes economic sense".
Source: Therapy Today, July 2009, Vol. 20, Issue 6, p4.
International publishing house ask Lewis Psychology CIC Director, Teresa Lewis, to endorse book
International publishing house Sage and authors Phil Joyce and Charlotte Sills were so impressed with Teresa's review of the first edition of 'Skills in Gestalt Counselling and Psychotherapy' that they asked her to endorse the second edition.
Skills in Gestalt Counselling & Psychotherapy, Second Edition is a practical introduction to the application of the Gestalt approach at each stage of the therapeutic process. Taking the reader through these stages, the book focuses on skills which arise out of Gestalt theory as well as those invoked by the therapeutic relationship.
As well as offering guidance on practice issues affecting counsellors such as assessment and treatment considerations, using a variety of Gestalt techniques, and developing client awareness, this fully updated edition has been expanded to represent new developments in the psychotherapy field. New material includes:
- the implications of neuroscience and psychotherapy outcome research for the therapeutic relationship
- new chapters exploring action research, disturbed and disturbing clients, and gestalt supervision and coaching
- short-term work in primary care and the NHS.
This is an ideal text for use on counselling and counselling skills courses, especially those training in Gestalt, and recommended reading for anyone who uses Gestalt skills in their work. The second edition is released in November 2009.
Use of antidepressants on the increase
Last year in England there were 2.1m more prescriptions of antidepressants than in 2007. In total, 36m prescriptions were given out, an increase of 24 per cent over the past five years.
Politicians and experts working in the field of depression said it was important that psychological therapies such as counselling should be made available to counter the increasing reliance on antidepressants at a time when people were at their most vulnerable.
There is also a geographical divide. A recent Mental Health Foundation analysis of the latest NHS data shows that 22 of the highest prescribing PCT's are in the north of England, while 23 of the 25 lowest prescribers are in the London area.
Source: Therapy Today, July 2009, Vol. 20, Issue 6, p4.
Post traumatic stress symptoms common after heart attack
Many people experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTSD) following a heart attack, and anxiety, depression and social withdrawal are also commonplace. These are the findings of a study by Susan Ayers of the University of Sussex and colleagues Claire Copland and Emma Dunmore, published on 10th August 2009, in the British Journal of Health Psychology.
Seventy four people who had experienced a heart attack in the previous 12 weeks and who were attending cardiac rehabilitation programmes took part in the study. Participants completed questionnaires assessing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, as well as perceptions of the severity of their heart attack and the extent to which they believed their lives were in danger.
Of the participants, 16 per cent met clinical criteria for acute PTSD and a further 18 per cent reported moderate to severe symptoms. Findings revealed that people who tended to use denial and avoidance coping strategies were more likely to develop PTSD symptoms - this was a more powerful predictor of symptoms than patients' perceptions of the severity of the heart attack and the threat to life.
Source: British Journal of Health Psychology, August 2009
At Lewis Psychology CIC we advocate the statutory regulation of counselling as a mechanism to protect the public interest and to give counselling professional recognition and responsibility. The Government is now committed to introducing statutory regulation, through the Health Professions Council (HPC). The HPC already licenses professions ranging from paramedics to osteopaths. In a precedent, Art Therapists have already taken their own decision to become regulated by the HPC. At present therapists are accredited on a voluntary basis by organisations such as the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). The team at Lewis Psychology CIC are actively following all activity regarding HPC regulation and will provide updates in our news feed. Statutory regulation of counselling
